Kazuo Shinohara, a member of a well-known architecture movement in Japan, designs modern Japanese structures; more specifically, modern homes. He was born in Shizuoka, Japan on April 2, 1925, later on went to study at TIT (Tokyo Institute of Technology) and graduated in 1953. With his new found education he became a professor in 1970. He believed in changing the idea of Japanese architecture (traditional) and making it modern in terms of leaving the past behind (world war two) and creating a better future. Still sticking with traditional aspects, such as color, organization, and balance, Kazuo implemented these with his physical idea of how modern Japanese structures should look, but mainly feel. He accomplished this throughout his number of works, mostly residential, all around Japan.
Some examples of his work would be Japan Ukiyo-e Museum in Matsumoto, K2 Building in Osaka, and the Umbrella House. The Umbrella House out of all shows his traditional Japanese cultural input considering the color and balance chosen for this design. He was awarded the AIJ grand prize for his achievements in influencing modern Japanese architecture in 2005. He then passed away on July 15, 2006, later on being commemorated in 2010 with the special Golden Lion award.
